Weather has always (kinda) fascinated me. Well, I reckon that’s not quite true (which kinda makes it a lie). Ok. I follow the weather so that I’m better prepared; know what to wear in the morning or whether or not I should leave my home earlier in the morning or when to take cover from incoming, severe weather such as tornados.
Nope.
That’s a lie, too. I just sort of live through the weather — hot, cold, snow, hail — it makes no never mind to me. I can’t change it, so I tend not to worry about the weather. Hmm? Let me think.
When I hear the tornado sirens and see it’s looking green, I head outside to look. Does this count as being fascinated by the weather?
And, since I am such a unique force in weatherology (does that make me a Donenomenon?), I am mostly amazed when folks talk about the weather as if it was a unique experience to them, personally, alone. Logically speaking, weather is not a solitary experience — we all share in it. So then, readers o’my heart, why do people talk about as if we all are not feeling the same effects of whatever weather we are experiencing?
Why? Tell me?!
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On a lark and for some fun, I posted this on The Clarkston News? Facebook page on our first really warm day of the season, Wednesday May 15, 2013:
Over under betting proposition: How many days until somebody starts complaining about the heat?
I always tell the new, fresh-scrubbed cub reporters on their first day working at a real newspaper that the weather is news. People always talk about the weather and (historically speaking) we need to report anomalies in weather, so folks in the future can know what it was like here, now, their past. However, I was surprised that that little 14-word post garnered 1,158 views and 16 comments. In contrast, this award-winning piece of commentary only gets about 300 views on Facebook. (A travesty, I know.)
A couple of things about the Facebook posting.
1. According to www.CasnionAnswers.com, ‘An Over/Under bet is a bet based on a total of an event during the game. Most commonly this refers to the total amount of points scored in a game, however it could also refer to other events such as over/under bets on amount of corners in a soccer game or when people with gripe about the weather.? (That last part was mine.)
2. I am not promoting an unhealthy life-style associated with sports gambling, so don’t write me nasty notes saying, ‘Don, you suck. You’re a very bad man and what you do is making it easier for our kids to become social delinquents.? Don’t do it.
3. Before any of you regular readers throw back into my face, what I wrote about in March about getting off of Facebook, relax. I wasn’t personally on Facebook. I was just doing it for work. (So, get off my back!)
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Some of the Facebookers responded as such:
‘Want to complain about heat? Come on down here to Texas, then you’ll have something to complain about! (though, that’s about the only thing to ‘complain’ about down here!)? — Ron K.
‘Me. Today! Just kidding. I love this weather. I promise NOT to complain til it hits 90+? Cindy D.
‘I give it one day. I live here in GA, and you will never hear me whine or complain. We use to live in Michigan and we absolutely love it down here in GA the heat and all.? Beth C.
‘In Roscommon, it will take about 2 weeks (if it doesn’t rain).? Shari D.
‘For sure won’t hear complaining from me, spent a few weeks in Arizona in July — 117 was average, and loved it!!!!? Jenna P
‘If it’s humid along with heat, I may complain any day! Hate humidity!? Vicki N.
‘Oh, hell. I’m already complaining.? Jenny P.
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Speaking of weird weather stuff, did you know the sun has been burping big solar flares? On-line a Mike Wall reports: A huge explosion on the sun will deal Earth a glancing blow Friday but should not pose a threat to the planet, scientists say.?
Wall further wrote, ‘The sun storm erupted late Tuesday during a powerful solar flare ? the fourth unleashed by a single sunspot in just 48 hours ? and hurled a massive cloud of charged particles out into space at millions of miles an hour. Such eruptions ? known as coronal mass ejections, or CMEs ? can wreak havoc if they hit Earth squarely, temporarily disrupting GPS navigation, satellite communications and power grids.?
Key words in all that, ‘should not pose . . .?
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And since I’m on a weather roll, my new favorite weather chick is Ginger ‘Zee? Zuidgeest. You can see her the weekend editions of Good Morning, America. Aside from being a cutie, she’s from Rockford, Michigan and she does all sorts of cool reporting from parachutes and hang gliders, skis and other cool things. She was also born before I graduated from high school.
Wow. I must be old to have spent so much time o
n the weather.